Product Description

The Village Voice described them as “New Wave pom-pom girls with brains.”

The Cosmopolitans surfed the New Wave as leaders of the pack of party bands With their Shangri-La’s attitude, their Hullabaloo choreography, their Sam the Sham spirit, and their deadpan lyrics, it was like watching your favorite Sixties girl group, except the girls did more than just stand with a microphone and sing. They danced wildly, they played instruments, they pounded toy hammers and tossed a baton.

It was crazy, liberating, humorous, and very Cosmopolitan… The Cosmopolitans were a dance-troupe-turned-rock combo that caught the fancy of swinging New Yorkers at the height of the punk/New Wave era. They brought down the house at the hippest downtown clubs: the Mudd Club, Max’s Kansas City, CBGB’s, Tier Three, the Ritz, the Peppermint Lounge, and Irving Plaza. Made up primarily of Jamie K. Sims and Nel Moore, the band also featured Mitch Easter on guitar.

The group is best-remembered for cutting one of the most infectious singles of the era: “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy” b/w “Wild Moose Party” and “Dancin’ Lesson.” The single originally came out on Alan Betrock’s Shake Records, then was picked up by Albion Records in Britain.

The first two songs got heavy airplay on New York’s most popular rock (WNEW) and disco (WBLS) stations, as well as college radio. Goldmine wrote that “Husband Happy” had “an infectious beat, a wild sense of humor . . . The spunky chorus and the band’s cynical musical complement make this record priceless!”

This compilation collects not only all three sides from the Cosmopolitans’ classic out-of-print single from1980, but also previously unreleased cuts and live material, including tabloid-inspired “Chevy Baby” and “Doug.” AND two bonus features: the original video of “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy” and liner notes by rock journalist Parke Puterbaugh.

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